Designer spotlight: Sarah Richardson

Good morning!! You might know her if you are a regular watcher of HGTV. I personally did not know  Sarah Richardson until recently, and although her style does not reflect my own,  I very much appreciate her streamlined style for which she is extremely well known. She has perfected a more transitional look, a very clean, very streamlined but elegant and livable look. She has an excellent sense of both scale and color and I think in all of her rooms she has shown that she can design not only gorgeous spaces but ones that you can imagine easily living in. She stared her career as a merchandiser at only 15 years old and quickly rose thought the ranks to become an in demand and sought after designer both here in the U.S. and in Canada. I will admit she was not in my "one word designer repertoire" amongst such names as Bunny, Charlotte, David, Ralph, etc.....but I do think she is one talented lady! She takes a practical and functional approach to design and I love the way she works such interesting fabrics and colors into her signature rooms. She isn't afraid to go bold with fabric and wallpaper and likes to use fun, geometric prints. I like her take on more modern, updated young feeling interiors. They feel very modern and fresh.  So lets take a look at some of her work.....

This is a great palette..the brown with touches of pale blue, a very inviting room

Really like the way she broke this sitting arrangement up with a bench and an over sized wing chair...the space is great looking

Something about a soft creamy ivory room that makes it feel so inviting and cozy

Beautiful elegant bathroom

The crisp navy works every time!

The pea green against the white is very sharp looking

Love the soft colors here....so sweet!

This room was beautifully put together

Great, clean aesthetic, love this!

Cozy nook in a girls room.....

Who doesn't love a cozy little nook like this?

Love the fun print on the bed while everything else is kept soft and quiet

This is a great looking small monochromatic kitchen, love the fabric on the barstools

Fun fabrics in this pink and green nursery

Love the navy and white, very sharp

Would never have thought of teal in a dining room...but it works beautifully here

Gorgeous kitchen, with the softest green painted cabinets and marble floors

Really like the bold geometric wallpaper here, it adds so much warmth to the room

Another view

Just the right punch of color in an otherwise all white room is gorgeous

A pale gold room gets a small jolt of color from the painting.....very pretty room

An elegant dining setting, there is that fixture again!

This is a kitchen meant for some serious entertaining!

This is a beautiful classic kitchen

Love this family room..the navy is timeless and rich

A pair of chaises, I wouldn't have thought of that, but they look great

Love this print...its a lot of fun and adds a lot of interest to the room

Beautiful sleek dark kitchen is stunning

Love this elegant master bath

Soft shimmery gray toned master bedroom

Love the soft crisp colors and lines here, just beautiful

Stunning tufted banquette.....a truly beautiful room

Elegant dining room high in the sky

Gorgeous transitional kitchen 

Elegant bathroom gets nickel accents against the white marble..timeless!

What a pretty and delicate little dressing spot!

The soft reds and cream work so nicely here...love the seating area

I love how the two chairs have a little table...like a little cafe setting for morning coffee!

How sweet is this babies room? I love the floral fabric on the chair......

So what do you think? Were you already familiar with her work? I really enjoyed discovering her impressive body of work....I tend to focus more on designers whose work tends to follow my own personal style but this was a refreshing change, I must say. Looking at her work is like looking at a freshly folded basket of laundry, it is  crisp, beautiful and fresh looking! I think she has great style and a wonderful eye for non fussy, elegant and simple decor. Would love to know what you think and if you have a favorite room! Have a Memorial day weekend!

Things I am loving Thursdays and House updates!

Good morning.......wow the days are passing me by fast and furious! Today I start as I do every week now with house updates. Things are moving along and we are most definitely making serious progress but there are days (and weeks) that I go and no matter how much we have done, all I seem to see is how much more there is left to be done. It is daunting, overwhelming and at times downright depressing because you have to know that originally I was hoping to have moved in the spring. I know many of you right this minute behind your computer screens,  are probably rolling your eyes thinking "don't  you know woman how construction has its own clock" and the answer is of course I do,  but I really thought moving in late spring was a true and realistic possibility. Now if we get to move in late June or July I will thank my lucky stars. So now I have turned into a tyrant  gotten a little more involved by taking over some of the orchestration of various trades and wearing my "assertive hat" in dealing with certain people to make sure this ball is rolling just as fast as humanly possible. With that said, you will see some major progress has been had, so its not all gloom and doom. Then I follow with some fun eye candy of some of the things I am loving this week!
HOUSE UPDATES. The foyer floor is nearly done...just love the way it came out. We used a honed French limestone, a very quiet clean limestone with black stone "dots" and border. I think it came out beautifully. The wood floors are done upstairs, that's a major accomplishment as is most of the trim on the second floor. The plumbing has started to get installed in the upstairs bathrooms so upstairs we really truly are down to the end, we even had the carpet installer come to take measurements so I could order carpeting and we spoke to a few painters. Downstairs things continue to move along but the finishing involved downstairs will take much longer, however the breakfast room paneling is near done, now we have to work on various stain samples, so below are some pictures of recent updates.

Foyer floor getting done!

Breakfast room bay is done at last!

Paneling is nearly done in this room....

Paneled doorways, now we just need to pick stain color

Love the way it came out

This wall is all done

Window bay is done

Putting the finishing touches on this wall

Floors in main foyer are getting done this week!

New round of "antiqued beams" getting worked on for family room and mahogany doors came in for downstairs

Wood flooring 95% done upstairs

Casing around doors and windows just about done upstairs...finally!

Black island and outer cabinet color

Limestone samples from which to choose for the limestone hood

WROUGHT IRON SCONCES. Since I have been scouring the market for sconces for the outside of the house, I have found many beauties. Though we have not made a final decision some of the contenders are below. Do you have a clear cut favorite?

GETAWAY. I love to include a getaway/vacation in some of my weekly posts because I am really craving one right now MORE THAN EVER and also because I really love to vacation and could happily go on one monthly..lol. We are hoping to go away as we always do this winter and are hoping to go to Turks and Caicos. If we do we are deciding between the Regent Palms and The Gansevoort, there is no bad or wrong decision here, mind you. Both incredibly gorgeous. I will not complain whichever we decide. In fact at this point, put me in a tent on a beach and you won't hear a peep:)

THE REGENT PALMS

THE GANSEVOORT

JACK ROGERS SANDALS. I have been wearing Jack Rogers sandals for a long long time, have owned them in dozens of colors, besides them being very comfortable, they happen to be very cute looking. Now they come in this great looking monogrammed style and I don't need to tell you how I feel about monograms. So I was very excited about this style and just ordered them in two colors. Aren't they adorable? I wear these literally all summer and they are a part of my "summer wardrobe". Tres cute and again comfort is very key to me. Click here to order yourself a pair.

HAYMARKET DESIGNS. I love this line. Discovered them about a year ago. Have since ordered from them a few times not only for myself but for gifts too. Just a great looking line, not too expensive and fun cute patterns. They make different sized serving trays monogrammed or not, frames, wastebaskets, and tissue boxes. Makes a very cute housewarming gift.They also do custom orders. Click here to see more.

ST. HELENA OLIVE OIL COMPANY. When we were in Napa Valley last year (and I fell madly in love with everything around me) I discovered this wonderful little company. OK, I will be big enough to admit you put the word "Napa" in something and yes I will say its good.  I am in love with the place. But this is a very nice line of products, good quality stuff. AND I love to cook, so I do know my olive oils and seasonings and sauces! They have all kinds of wonderful farm to table products and I was thrilled to know I could still continue to order from them even though I live on the other coast. They have a great line of products, and I can only speak to the ones I have tried but of the ones I have tried, I really have enjoyed them! Click here to see more.

THE NEW GORGEOUS RALPH LAUREN RUG LINE. I am so excited about the new highly anticipated collection of Ralph Lauren rugs coming out this summer/fall being produced and launched by Safavieh, weavers of the most beautiful rugs in the world. As with all things Ralph does, this line promises to be nothing short of outrageously beautiful, below is a tidbit of whats to come, love the bold geometric rugs all inspired by antique Persian designs in rich vegetable dyed colors...exquisite!! Visit Safavieh here to see more of their incredible rugs. They produce some incredible lines already by some of your favorite designers, including Thomas OBrien, David Easton, Martha Stewart, Suzanne Kasler, Jamie Drake and ..Thom Filicia so Ralph was a natural addition to this amazing lineup of talent! Can't wait!

MY MARBLE SLABS ARE COMING! So excited to have gotten these yesterday. Unless you happen to be in the field for marble at this moment, this might not excite you too much, but if you are then you will have an immense appreciation for how beautiful these blocks of Calacutta are. These are going to be for the outer perimeter of the kitchen, I am so happy with them..they are exactly what I was looking for.

VAGABOND HOUSE. Great line, that I discovered a few years ago. Their gorgeous serving pieces are made of pewter, antler and reclaimed woods. Love their line and own several of their serving pieces,  always treat myself to something new around Christmas time and occasionally when I just have to have a piece here or there to add to my growing collection. They really are just stunning and are just so pretty to display as well! The carving trays are gorgeous (I have the first one) around the holidays and makes any turkey look beautiful!  Makes a very special gift and these are truly heirloom quality products. Click here to see more.

Well, this is all this post would allow me to share since Blogger- no surprise here- is having problems again....whats going on? Its frustrating to say the least! I have gotten emails from people telling me they were unable to leave comments, complaining about their own inability to write posts, I know of my own frustrations in recent weeks. So hoping its not a sign of things to come and that they have things under control and will be able to manage it and nip what "it" is and be done with it once and for all! Us bloggers have a lot of work to do and don't need the extra work! In any case, wishing you a happy and stress free Thursday!